Thursday, August 26, 2010

Two trends are largely responsible for the rise in homelessness over the past 20-25 years: a growing shortage of affordable rental housing and a simultaneous increase in poverty. Below is an overview of current poverty and housing statistics, as well as additional factors contributing to homelessness. A list of resources for further study is also provided.

FORECLOSURE

Recently, foreclosures have increased the number of people who experience homelessness. The National Coalition for the Homeless released an entire report discussing the relationship between foreclosure and homelessness. The report found that there was a 32% jump in the number of foreclosures between April 2008 and April 2009. Since the start of the recession, six million jobs have been lost. In May 2009, the official unemployment rate was 9.4%. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that 40 percent of families facing eviction due to foreclosure are renters and 7 million households living on very low incomes (31 - 50 percent of Area Median Income) are at risk of foreclosure.

POVERTY

Homelessness and poverty are inextricably linked. Poor people are frequently unable to pay for housing, food, childcare, health care, and education. Difficult choices must be made when limited resources cover only some of these necessities. Often it is housing, which absorbs a high proportion of income that must be dropped. If you are poor, you are essentially an illness, an accident, or a paycheck away from living on the streets.

In 2007, 12.5% of the U.S. population, or 37,300,00 million people, lived in poverty. The official poverty rate in 2007 was not statistically different than 2006 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2007). Children are overrepresented, composing 35.7% of people in poverty while only being 24.8% of the total population.

Two factors help account for increasing poverty: eroding employment opportunities for large segments of the workforce and the declining value and availability of public assistance.

Low-wage workers have been particularly have been left behind as the disparity between rich and poor has mushroomed. To compound the problem, the real value of the minimum wage in 2004 was 26% less than in 1979 (The Economic Policy Institute, 2005). Factors contributing to wage declines include a steep drop in the number and bargaining power of unionized workers; erosion in the value of the minimum wage; a decline in manufacturing jobs and the corresponding expansion of lower-paying service-sector employment; globalization; and increased nonstandard work, such as temporary and part-time employment (Mishel, Bernstein, and Schmitt, 1999). To combat this, Congress has planned a gradual minimum wage increase, resulting in minimum wage raised to $9.50 by 2011.

Declining wages, in turn, have put housing out of reach for many workers: in every state, more than the minimum wage is required to afford a one- or two-bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent. [1] A recent U.S. Conference of Mayors report stated that in every state more than the minimum-wage is required to afford a one or two-bedroom apartment at 30% of his or her income, which is the federal definition of affordable housing. Unfortunately, for 12 million Americans, more then 50% of their salaries go towards renting or housing costs, resulting in sacrifices in other essential areas like health care and savings.

The connection between impoverished workers and homelessness can be seen in homeless shelters, many of which house significant numbers of full-time wage earners. In 2007, a survey performed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that 17.4% of homeless adults in families were employed while 13% of homeless single adults or unaccompanied youth were employed. In the 2008 report, eleven out of nineteen cities reported an increased in employed homeless people.

With unemployment rates remaining high, jobs are hard to find in the current economy. Even if people can find work, this does not automatically provide an escape from poverty.

DECLINE IN PUBLIC ASSISTANCE

The declining value and availability of public assistance is another source of increasing poverty and homelessness. Until its repeal in August 1996, the largest cash assistance program for poor families with children was the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (the federal welfare reform law) repealed the AFDC program and replaced it with a block grant program called Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). In 2005, TANF helped a third of the children that AFDC helped reach above the 50% poverty line. Unfortunately, TANF has not been able to kept up with inflation. In 2006-2008, TANF case load has continued to decline while food stamp caseloads have increased

Moreover, extreme poverty is growing more common for children, especially those in female-headed and working families. This increase can be traced directly to the declining number of children lifted above one-half of the poverty line by government cash assistance for the poor (Children's Defense Fund and the National Coalition for the Homeless, 1998).

As a result of loss of benefits, low wages, and unstable employment, many families leaving welfare struggle to get medical care, food, and housing.

People with disabilities, too, must struggle to obtain and maintain stable housing. In 2006, on a national average, monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment rose to $715 per month which is a 113.1% of a person’s on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) monthly income (Priced Out in 2006). For the first time, the national average rent for a studio apartment rose above the income of a person who relies only on SSI income. Recently, only nine percent of non-institutionalized people receiving SSI receive housing assistance (Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, 2005).

Most states have not replaced the old welfare system with an alternative that enables families and individuals to obtain above-poverty employment and to sustain themselves when work is not available or possible.

HOUSING

A lack of affordable housing and the limited scale of housing assistance programs have contributed to the current housing crisis and to homelessness.

According to HUD, in recent years the shortages of affordable housing are most severe for units affordable to renters with extremely low incomes. Federal support for low-income housing has fallen 49% from 1980 to 2003 (National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2005). About 200,000 rental housing units are destroyed annually. Renting is one of the most viable options for low income people (Joint Center for Housing Studies).

Since 2000, the incomes of low-income households has declined as rents continue to rise (National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2005). In 2009, a worker would need to earn $14.97 to afford a one-bedroom apartment and $17.84 to afford a two-bedroom apartment. There has been an increase of 41% from 2000 to 2009 in fair market rent for a two-bedroom unit, according to HUD (National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2009).

The lack of affordable housing has lead to high rent burdens (rents which absorb a high proportion of income), overcrowding, and substandard housing. These phenomena, in turn, have not only forced many people to become homeless; they have put a large and growing number of people at risk of becoming homeless.

Housing assistance can make the difference between stable housing, precarious housing, or no housing at all. However, the demand for assisted housing clearly exceeds the supply: only about one-third of poor renter households receive a housing subsidy from the federal, state, or a local government (Daskal, 1998). The limited level of housing assistance means that most poor families and individuals seeking housing assistance are placed on long waiting lists. Today the average wait for Section 8 Vouchers is 35 months (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2004).

Excessive waiting lists for public housing mean that people must remain in shelters or inadequate housing arrangements longer. In a survey of 24 cities, people remain homeless an average of seven months, and 87% of cities reported that the length of time people are homeless has increased in recent years (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2005). Longer stays in homeless shelters result in less shelter space available for other homeless people, who must find shelter elsewhere or live on the streets. In 2007, it was found that average stay in homeless shelters for households with children was 5.7 months, while this number is only slightly smaller for singles and unaccompanied children at 4.7 months. (The U.S. Conference for Mayors, 2007).

In 2003, the federal government spent almost twice as much in housing-related tax expenditures and direct housing assistance for households in the top income quintile than on housing subsidies for the lowest-income households (National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2005). Thus, federal housing policy has not responded to the needs of low-income households, while disproportionately benefiting the wealthiest Americans.

OTHER FACTORS

Particularly within the context of poverty and the lack of affordable housing, certain additional factors may push people into homelessness. Other major factors, which can contribute to homelessness, include the following:

Lack of Affordable Health Care: For families and individuals struggling to pay the rent, a serious illness or disability can start a downward spiral into homelessness, beginning with a lost job, depletion of savings to pay for care, and eventual eviction. One in three Americans, or 86.7 million people, is uninsured. Of those uninsured, 30.7% are under eighteen. In 2007-2008, four out of five people that were uninsured were working families. Work-based health insurance has become rarer in recent years, especially for workers in the agricultural or service sectors (Families USA, 2009).

Domestic Violence: Battered women who live in poverty are often forced to choose between abusive relationships and homelessness. In addition, 50% of the cities surveyed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors identified domestic violence as a primary cause of homelessness (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2005).Approximately 63% of homeless women have experienced domestic violence in their adult lives (Network to End Domestic Violence).

Mental Illness: Approximately 16% of the single adult homeless population suffers from some form of severe and persistent mental illness (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2005). Despite the disproportionate number of severely mentally ill people among the homeless population, increases in homelessness are not attributable to the release of severely mentally ill people from institutions. Most patients were released from mental hospitals in the 1950s and 1960s, yet vast increases in homelessness did not occur until the 1980s, when incomes and housing options for those living on the margins began to diminish rapidly. According to the 2003 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Report, most homeless persons with mental illness do not need to be institutionalized, but can live in the community with the appropriate supportive housing options (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2003). However, many mentally ill homeless people are unable to obtain access to supportive housing and/or other treatment services. The mental health support services most needed include case management, housing, and treatment.

Addiction Disorders: The relationship between addiction and homelessness is complex and controversial. While rates of alcohol and drug abuse are disproportionately high among the homeless population, the increase in homelessness over the past two decades cannot be explained by addiction alone. Many people who are addicted to alcohol and drugs never become homeless, but people who are poor and addicted are clearly at increased risk of homelessness. Addiction does increase the risk of displacement for the precariously housed; in the absence of appropriate treatment, it may doom one's chances of getting housing once on the streets. Homeless people often face insurmountable barriers to obtaining health care, including addictive disorder treatment services and recovery supports.

CONCLUSION

Homelessness results from a complex set of circumstances that require people to choose between food, shelter, and other basic needs. Only a concerted effort to ensure jobs that pay a living wage, adequate support for those who cannot work, affordable housing, and access to health care will bring an end to homelessness.

REFERENCES

Arnst, Catherine. “Health Care: Not So Recession Proof”. Business Week. 25 March 2008.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “Policy Basics: An Introduction to TANF,” 2009. 820 First Street, NE, Suite 510, Washington, D.C. 20002.Children's Defense Fund and National Coalition for the Homeless. Welfare to What: Early Findings on Family Hardship and Well-being, 1998. National Coalition for the Homeless, 2201 P St NW, Washington, D.C., 20036; 202/462-4822.

Homes for the Homeless. Ten Cities 1997-1998: A Snapshot of Family Homelessness Across America. Available from Homes for the Homeless & the Institute for Children and Poverty, 36 Cooper Square, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10003; 212/529-5252.

Institute for Children and Poverty. A Shelter is Not a Home: Or is it? April 2001. Available online at www.homesforthehomeless.com/ or from the Institute for Children and Poverty, 36 Cooper Square, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10003.

National Coalition for the Homeless.”Foreclosure to Homelessness,” 2009.. National Coalition for the Homeless, 2201 P St NW, Washington, D.C., 20036; 202/462-4822.

National Coalition for the Homeless. No Open Door: Breaking the Lock on Addiction Recovery for Homeless People, 1998. National Coalition for the Homeless, 2201 P St NW, Washington, D.C., 20036; 202/462-4822.

National Low Income Housing Coalition. “Out of Reach,” 2009.. Available from the National Low Income Housing Coalition at 1012 14th Street, Suite 610, Washington, DC 20005; 202/662-1530.

National Low Income Housing Coalition. The Crisis in America’s Housing, 2005. Available from www.nlihc.org.

National Low Income Housing Coalition. Out of Reach, 2007-2008. Available from www.nlihc.org.

National Priorities Project and Jobs with Justice. Working Hard, Earning Less: The Future of Job Growth in America, 1998. Available from the National Priorities Project, 17 New South Street, Suite 301, Northampton, MA 01060; 414/584-9556.

National Network to End Domestic Violence. 2007. “Domestic Violence Counts: A 24-hour census of domestic violence shelters and services across the United States.” Washington, DC: National Network to End Domestic Violence.

Nickelson, Idara. “The District Should Use Its Upcoming TANF Bonus To Increase Cash Assistance and Remove Barriers to Work”, 2004. D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute. Available at www.dcfpi.org.

Santos, Fernanda and Robet Ingrassia. “Family surge at shelters.” New York Daily News, August 18th, 2002. Available at www.nationalhomeless.org/housing/familiesarticle.html.

Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc. and the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Housing Task Force. Priced Out in 1998: The Housing Crisis for People with Disabilities, 1999. Available from the Technical Assistance Collaborative, One Center Plaza, Suite 310, Boston, MA 02108; 617/742-5657.

Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc. and the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Housing Task Force. Priced Out in 2006: The Housing Crisis for People with Disabilities, 2006. Available at http://www.tacinc.org/Pubs/PricedOut.htm.

U.S. Bureau of the Census(a). Poverty in the United States: 1997. Current Population Reports, Series P60-201, 1998. Available, free, from U.S. Bureau of the Census, Income Statistics Branch, Washington, DC, 20233-0001; 301/763-8576, or at http://www.census.gov/hhes/ww w/poverty.html.

U.S. Bureau of the Census(b). Health Insurance Coverage: 1997. Current Population Reports, Series P60-202, 1997. Available, free, from U.S. Bureau of the Census, Income Statistics Branch, Washington,DC, 20233-0001; 301/763-8576, or at http://www.census.gov/hhes/ww w/hlthins.html.

U.S. Bureau of the Census. Income, Poverty and Health Insurance in the United States: 2003, 2004,2005. Available at www.census.gov.

U.S. Conference of Mayors. A Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in America's Cities: 2001. Available for $15.00 from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 1620 Eye St., NW, 4th Floor, Washington, DC, 20006-4005, 202/293-7330.

U.S. Conference of Mayors. A Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in America's Cities: 2005. Available from http://www.usmayors.org/uscm/home.asp.

U.S. Conference of Mayors. A Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in America's Cities: 2007. Available from http://www.usmayors.org/uscm/home.asp.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Blueprint for Change, 2003. Available through National Resource and Training Center on Homelessness and Mental Illness, www.nrchmi.samhsa.gov.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. Waiting In Vain: An Update On America's Housing Crisis, 1999. Available for $5.00 from HUD User, P.O. Box 6091, Rockville, MD 20849-6091, 800/245-2691, or free from the HUD User web site at www.huduser.org

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, A Report on Worst Case Housing Needs in 1999: New Opportunities Amid Continuing Challenges, 1999. Available from HUD User, P.O. Box 6091, Rockville, MD 20849-6091, 800/245-2691, or free from the HUD User web site at www.huduser.org

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

[close]Brad PittFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, searchThis article is about the actor. For the boxer, see Brad Pitt (boxer).Page semi-protectedBrad PittA Caucasian with light brown hair, blue eyes and a short brown beard, in front of a turquoise background. He is wearing a white shirt and white hat.Pitt at the premiere of Burn After Reading in 2008Born William Bradley PittDecember 18, 1963 (1963-12-18) (age 46)Shawnee, Oklahoma,United StatesOccupation Actor, film producerYears active 1987–presentSpouse(s) Jennifer Aniston(2000–2005) (divorced)Domestic partner(s) Angelina Jolie(2005–present)

William Bradley "Brad" Pitt[1] (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one. He has been described as one of the world's most attractive men, a label for which he has received substantial media attention.[2][3]

Pitt began his acting career with television guest appearances, including a role on the CBS prime-time soap opera Dallas in 1987. He later gained recognition as the cowboy hitchhiker who seduces Geena Davis's character in the 1991 road movie Thelma & Louise. Pitt's first leading roles in big-budget productions came with A River Runs Through It (1992) and Interview with the Vampire (1994). He was cast opposite Anthony Hopkins in the 1994 drama Legends of the Fall, which earned him his first Golden Globe nomination. In 1995 he gave critically acclaimed performances in the crime thriller Seven and the science fiction film 12 Monkeys, the latter securing him a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and an Academy Award nomination. Four years later, in 1999, Pitt starred in the cult hit Fight Club. He then starred in the major international hit as Rusty Ryan in Ocean's Eleven (2001) and its sequels, Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007). His greatest commercial successes have been Troy (2004) and Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). Pitt received his second Academy Award nomination for his title role performance in the 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Following a high-profile relationship with actress Gwyneth Paltrow, Pitt was married to actress Jennifer Aniston for five years. Pitt currently lives with actress Angelina Jolie in a relationship that has generated wide publicity.[4] He and Jolie have six children—Maddox, Zahara, Pax, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne. Since beginning his relationship with Jolie, he has become increasingly involved in social issues both in the United States and internationally. Pitt owns a production company named Plan B Entertainment, whose productions include the 2007 Academy Award winning Best Picture, The Departed.Contents[hide]

The son of Jane Etta (née Hillhouse), a high school counselor, and William Alvin Pitt, a truck company owner, Pitt was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma.[5] Along with his siblings Doug (born 1966) and Julie Neal (born 1969),[6] he grew up in Springfield, Missouri, where the family moved soon after his birth. He was raised as a conservative Southern Baptist.[7]

Pitt attended Kickapoo High School where he was a member of the golf, tennis and swimming teams. He participated in the school's Key and Forensics clubs, in school debates, and in musicals.[8] Following his graduation from high school, Pitt enrolled in the University of Missouri in 1982, majoring in journalism, with a focus on advertising.[8] As a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity,[5] he acted in several fraternity shows.[9] As graduation approached, Pitt saw his friends getting jobs but did not feel ready to settle down himself. He loved films—"a portal into different worlds for me"—and, since films were not made in Missouri, he decided he would go to where they were made.[7] Two weeks before earning his degree, Pitt left the university and moved to Los Angeles to take acting lessons.[1][edit] Career[edit] Early work

While struggling to establish himself in Los Angeles, Pitt took lessons from acting coach Roy London.[1][8] He took on various occasional jobs, spending some time as a chauffeur[10] and dressing up as an El Pollo Loco chicken to pay for acting lessons.

Pitt's onscreen career began in 1987, with uncredited parts in the films No Way Out, No Man's Land and Less Than Zero.[8] His television debut came in November of the same year with a guest appearance on the ABC sitcom Growing Pains.[11] He appeared in four episodes of the CBS primetime soap opera Dallas[12] between December 1987 and February 1988 as Randy, the boyfriend of Charlie Wade (played by Shalane McCall).[1] Pitt described his character as "an idiot boyfriend who gets caught in the hay."[13] Speaking of his scenes with McCall, Pitt later said "It was kind of wild, because I'd never even met her before."[1] Later in 1988, Pitt made a guest appearance on the Fox police drama 21 Jump Street.[14]

In the same year, the Yugoslavian–U.S. co-production The Dark Side of the Sun (1988) gave Pitt his first leading film role, as a young American taken by his family to the Adriatic to find a remedy for a skin condition. However, the film was shelved on the outbreak of the Croatian War of Independence, and was released only in 1997.[8] Pitt made two motion picture appearances in 1989: the first in a supporting role in the comedy Happy Together; the second a featured role in the horror film Cutting Class, the first of Pitt's films to reach theaters.[11] He made guest appearances on television series Head of the Class, Freddy's Nightmares, Thirtysomething, and (for a second time) Growing Pains.[15]

Pitt was cast as Billy Canton, a drug addict who takes advantage of a young runaway (played by Juliette Lewis) in the 1990 NBC television movie Too Young to Die?, the story of an abused teenager sentenced to death for a murder.[16] Ken Tucker, television reviewer for Entertainment Weekly wrote: "Pitt is a magnificent slimeball as her hoody boyfriend; looking and sounding like a malevolent John Cougar Mellencamp, he's really scary."[16] The same year, Pitt co-starred in six episodes of the short-lived Fox drama Glory Days,[1] and took a supporting role in the HBO television movie The Image.[17] His next appearance came in the 1991 film Across the Tracks; Pitt portrayed Joe Maloney, a high school runner with a criminal brother, played by Ricky Schroder.[18]

After years of supporting roles in movies and frequent television guest appearances, broader public recognition came for Pitt with his supporting role in the 1991 road film Thelma & Louise.[17] He played J.D., a small-time criminal who befriends Thelma (Geena Davis). His love scene with Davis has been cited as the moment that defined Pitt as a sex symbol.[11][19]

After Thelma & Louise, Pitt starred in the 1991 film Johnny Suede, a low-budget picture about an aspiring rock star,[20] and the 1992 film Cool World,[11] although neither furthered his career in light of their poor reviews and box office performance.[21][22] Pitt took the role of Paul Maclean in the 1992 biographical film A River Runs Through It, directed by Robert Redford.[23] His portrayal of the character has been described as a career-making performance,[24] proving that Pitt could be more than a "cowboy-hatted hunk",[25] although he admitted that he felt under pressure when making the film.[26] Pitt added that he considered it one of his "weakest performances ... It's so weird that it ended up being the one that I got the most attention for."[26] Pitt believed that he benefited from working with such a talented cast and crew, going on to compare working with Redford to playing tennis, saying "when you play with somebody better than you, your game gets better."[24][25]

In 1993, Pitt reunited with Juliette Lewis, co-star from Too Young to Die?, for the road film Kalifornia. He played Early Grayce, a serial killer and the boyfriend of Lewis's character in a performance Peter Travers of Rolling Stone described as "outstanding, all boyish charm and then a snort that exudes pure menace".[27] Pitt also garnered attention for a brief appearance in the cult hit True Romance as a stoner named Floyd, providing much needed comic relief to the action film.[28] He capped the year by winning a ShoWest Award for Male Star of Tomorrow.[29][edit] Critical success

1994 marked a significant turning point in Pitt's career. Starring as vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac in the feature film Interview with the Vampire, based on Anne Rice's 1976 novel of the same name,[30] he was part of an ensemble cast that included Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst, Christian Slater, and Antonio Banderas.[30] Despite winning two MTV Movie Awards at the 1995 ceremony,[31] his performance was poorly received. According to the Dallas Observer, "Brad Pitt ... is a large part of the problem [in the film]. When directors play up his cocky, hunkish, folksy side ... he's a joy to watch. But there's nothing about him that suggests inner torment or even self-awareness, which makes him a boring Louis."[32]A side view of a Caucasian male, who is facing to the left, with light brown hair. He is wearing a black suit and tie with a white shirt. Another Caucasian male, also wearing a suit, is visible in the background.Pitt was named Sexiest Man Alive by People in 1995 and 2000.

Following the release of Interview with the Vampire, Pitt starred in Legends of the Fall (1994),[33] a film set during the first four decades of the twentieth century. Pitt portrayed Tristan Ludlow, son of Colonel William Ludlow (Anthony Hopkins), and received his first Golden Globe Award nomination, in the Best Actor category.[34] Aidan Quinn and Henry Thomas co-starred as Pitt's brothers. Although the film's reception was mixed,[35] many film critics complimented Pitt's performance. Janet Maslin of The New York Times said, "Pitt's diffident mix of acting and attitude works to such heartthrob perfection it's a shame the film's superficiality gets in his way"[36] while the Deseret News predicted that Legends of the Fall would solidify Pitt's reputation as a lead actor.[37]

In 1995, Pitt starred alongside Morgan Freeman and Gwyneth Paltrow in the crime thriller Seven, playing a detective on the trail of a serial killer (played by Kevin Spacey).[38] Pitt called the film a great movie and declared the part would expand his acting horizons,[39] expressing a desire to move on from "this 'pretty boy' thing [...] and play someone with flaws".[40] His performance was critically well-received, with Variety saying that it was screen acting at its best, further remarking on Pitt's ability to turn in a "determined, energetic, creditable job" as the detective.[41] Seven earned $327 million at the international box office.[21]

Following the success of Seven, Pitt took a supporting role as Jeffrey Goines in Terry Gilliam's 1995 science-fiction film 12 Monkeys. The movie received predominantly positive reviews, with Pitt praised in particular. Janet Maslin of the New York Times called Twelve Monkeys "fierce and disturbing" and remarked on Pitt's "startlingly frenzied performance", concluding that he "electrifies Jeffrey with a weird magnetism that becomes important later in the film."[42] He won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film[34] and received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.[43]

The following year he had a role in the legal drama Sleepers (1996), based on the Lorenzo Carcaterra's novel of the same name.[44] The film received mixed reviews.[45] In the 1997 movie The Devil's Own Pitt starred, opposite Harrison Ford, as the Irish Republican Army terrorist Rory Devany,[46] a role for which he was required to learn an Irish accent.[47] Critical opinion was divided on his approximation of the accent; "Pitt finds the right tone of moral ambiguity, but at times his Irish brogue is too convincing – it's hard to understand what he's saying", wrote the San Francisco Chronicle[48] while a contributor from The Charleston Gazette opined that it had favored Pitt's accent over the movie.[49] The Devil's Own grossed $140 million worldwide,[21] but was a critical failure. Later that year he led as Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer in the Jean-Jacques Annaud film Seven Years in Tibet.[50] Pitt trained for months for the role, which demanded significant mountain climbing and trekking practice, including by rock climbing in California and the European Alps with his co-star David Thewlis.[51] The film received mostly negative reviews, and was generally considered a disappointment.[52]

Pitt then had the lead role in 1998's Meet Joe Black. He portrayed a personification of death inhabiting the body of a young man to learn what it is like to be human.[53] The film received mixed reviews, and many were critical of Pitt's performance. According to Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle, Pitt was unable to "to make an audience believe that he knows all the mysteries of death and eternity."[54][edit] From 1999 to 2003

In 1999, Pitt portrayed Tyler Durden, an uncompromising and charismatic individual, in Fight Club,[55][56] a film adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's novel of the same name, directed by David Fincher.[57] Pitt prepared for the part with lessons in boxing, taekwondo, and grappling.[58] To look the part, Pitt consented to the removal of pieces of his front teeth which were restored when filming ended.[59] While promoting Fight Club, Pitt said that the purpose of the film was not necessarily to take one's aggressions out on someone else but rather to "have an experience, take a punch more" and see how you come out on the other end.[60] Fight Club premiered at the 1999 Venice International Film Festival[61] and, despite divided critical opinion on the film as a whole,[62][63] Pitt's performance was broadly praised. Paul Clinton of CNN noted the risky yet successful nature of the film[64] while Variety remarked upon Pitt's ability to be "cool, charismatic and more dynamically physical, perhaps than [...] his breakthrough role in Thelma and Louise".[65] In spite of a worse-than-expected box office performance, Fight Club became a cult classic after its DVD release in 2000.[66]An image of five Caucasian men and one Caucasian woman posing in front of a blue curtain. Four of the men and the woman are wearing leather coats and jeans, while the man on the far left is wearing a trench coat and jeans.Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy García, Julia Roberts, cast of Ocean's Eleven and director Steven Soderbergh in December 2001

Following Fight Club, Pitt was cast as an Irish Gypsy boxer with a barely intelligible accent in Guy Ritchie's 2000 gangster film Snatch.[67] Several reviewers were critical of Snatch, however most praised Pitt.[68] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said Pitt was "ideally cast as an Irishman whose accent is so thick even Brits can't understand him", going on to say that, before Snatch, Pitt had been "shackled by roles that called for brooding introspection, but recently he has found his calling in black comic outrageousness and flashy extroversion;"[69] while Amy Taubin of The Village Voice claimed that "Pitt gets maximum comic mileage out of a one-joke role".[70]

The following year Pitt starred opposite Julia Roberts in the romantic comedy The Mexican,[71] a film that garnered a broad range of reviews[72] but enjoyed box office success.[21] Pitt's next role, in 2001's $143 million-grossing Cold War thriller Spy Game,[21] was as Tom Bishop, an operative of the CIA's Special Activities Division, mentored by Robert Redford's character.[73] Salon.com enjoyed the film, though noting that neither Pitt nor Redford provided "much of an emotional connection for the audience".[74] On November 22, 2001, Pitt made a guest appearance in the eighth season of the television series Friends, playing a man with a grudge against Rachel Green, played by Jennifer Aniston, to whom Pitt was married at the time.[75] For this performance he was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.[76] In December 2001, Pitt had the role of Rusty Ryan in the heist film Ocean's Eleven, a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack original. He joined an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy García, and Julia Roberts.[77] Well-received by critics, Ocean's Eleven was successful at the box office, earning $450 million worldwide.[21]

Pitt appeared in two episodes of MTV's reality series Jackass in February 2002, first running through the streets of Los Angeles with several cast members in gorilla suits,[78] and participating in his own staged abduction in another episode.[79] In the same year, Pitt had a cameo role in George Clooney's directorial debut Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.[80] He took on his first voice-acting roles in 2003, lending his voice to the titular character of the DreamWorks animated film Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas[81] and playing Boomhauer's brother, Patch, in an episode of the animated television series King of the Hill.[82][edit] After 2003

Pitt had two major film roles in 2004, starring as Achilles in Troy, and making a second appearance as Rusty Ryan, in the sequel Ocean's Twelve. He spent six months sword training before the filming of Troy, based on the Iliad.[83] An on-set injury to his Achilles tendon delayed production on the picture for several weeks.[84] With a total worldwide gross of $497 million, Troy remains Pitt's most commercially successful picture to date. The film earned $364 million outside the U.S. and $133 million domestically.[21][85] Stephen Hunter of The Washington Times stated that Pitt excelled at such a demanding role.[86] Ocean's Twelve earned $362 million worldwide,[21] and Pitt and Clooney's dynamic was described (by CNN's Paul Clinton) as "the best male chemistry since Paul Newman and Robert Redford".[87]

In 2005, Pitt starred in the Doug Liman-directed action comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith, in which a bored married couple discover that each is an assassin sent to kill the other. The feature received reasonable reviews but was generally lauded for the chemistry between Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who played his character's wife Jane Smith. The Star Tribune noted that "while the story feels haphazard, the movie gets by on gregarious charm, galloping energy and the stars' thermonuclear screen chemistry."[88] Mr. & Mrs. Smith earned $478 million worldwide, making it one of the biggest hits of 2005.[89]A Caucasian male, who is wearing aviator sunglasses, has light brown hair and a short brown beard. He wears a grey suit jacket, white shirt, and grey tie. Behind him are people with single-lens reflex cameras.Pitt at the German premiere of Inglourious Basterds in July 2009.

For his next feature film, Pitt starred opposite Cate Blanchett in Alejandro González Iñárritu's multi-narrative drama Babel (2006).[90] Pitt's performance was critically well-received, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer believed that he was credible and gave the film visibility.[91] Pitt later said he regarded taking the part as one of the best decisions of his career.[92] The film was screened at a special presentation at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival[93] and was later featured at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.[94] Babel received seven Academy and Golden Globe award nominations, wining the Best Drama Golden Globe, and earned Pitt a nomination for the Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe.[34]

Reprising his role as Rusty Ryan in a third picture, Pitt starred in 2007's Ocean's Thirteen.[95] While less lucrative than the first two films, this sequel earned $311 million at the international box office.[21] Pitt's next film role was as American outlaw Jesse James in the 2007 Western drama The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, adapted from Ron Hansen's 1983 novel of the same name.[96] Directed by Andrew Dominik and produced by Pitt's company Plan B, the film premiered at the 2007 Venice Film Festival,[97] with Pitt playing a "scary and charismatic" role, according to Lewis Beale of Film Journal International,[98] and earning Pitt the Volpi Cup award for Best Actor at the 64th Venice International Film Festival.[99] Although Pitt attended the festival to promote the film, he left early after being attacked by a fan who pushed through his bodyguards.[100] He eventually collected the award one year later at the 2008 festival.[101]

Pitt's next appearance was in the 2008 black comedy Burn After Reading, his first collaboration with the Coen brothers. The film received a positive reception from critics, with The Guardian calling it "a tightly wound, slickly plotted spy comedy",[102] noting that Pitt's performance was one of the funniest.[102] He was later cast as Benjamin Button, the lead in David Fincher's 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a loosely adapted version of a 1921 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story follows a man who is born an octogenarian and ages in reverse,[103] with Pitt's "sensitive" performance making Benjamin Button a "timeless masterpiece," according to Michael Sragow of The Baltimore Sun.[104] The performance earned Pitt his first Screen Actors Guild Award nomination,[105] as well as a fourth Golden Globe and second Academy Award nomination,[34][106] all in the category for Best Actor. The film itself received thirteen Academy Award nominations in total, and grossed $329 million at the box office worldwide.[21]

Since 2008, Pitt's work has included a leading role in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, released in August 2009 at a special presentation at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.[107] Pitt played Lieutenant Aldo Raine, an American resistance fighter battling Nazis in German-occupied France.[108] The film was a box office hit, taking $311 million worldwide,[21] and garnering generally favorable reviews.[109] The film received multiple awards and nominations, including eight Academy Award nominations and seven MTV Movie Award nominations, including Best Male Performance for Pitt.[110][111] Pitt is due to appear in Terrence Malick's drama The Tree of Life, co-starring Sean Penn,[112] will do voice work in the animated feature Megamind,[113] and has signed on to appear as a British explorer searching for a mysterious Amazonian civilization in the Lost City of Z, based on David Grann's eponymous book.[114][edit] Other projects[edit] Film and television work

Along with Jennifer Aniston and Brad Grey, CEO of Paramount Pictures, Pitt founded the film production company Plan B Entertainment in 2002,[115] although Aniston and Grey withdrew in 2005.[116][117] The company has produced several films, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp in 2005,[118] as well as 2007's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and A Mighty Heart, starring Angelina Jolie.[118][119] Plan B was also involved in producing The Departed, the winner of the 2007 Academy Award for Best Picture. Pitt was credited onscreen as a producer; however, only Graham King was ruled eligible for the Oscar win.[120] Pitt has been reluctant to discuss the production company in interviews.[117]

Pitt has appeared in several television commercials: one for the U.S. market, a Heineken commercial aired during the 2005 Super Bowl; it was directed by David Fincher, who had directed Pitt in Seven, Fight Club and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.[121] Other commercial appearances came in television spots designed for Asian markets, advertising such products as SoftBank and Edwin Jeans.[122][123][edit] Humanitarian causesA Caucasian male bent over a table autographing a movie poster. He has light brown hair with blonde highlights, and is wearing a dark-colored trench coat with a white shirt. Visible in the background and foreground are other people, some of whom are also signing autographs.Pitt signing autographs for troops during his 2001 visit to Incirlik Air Base

Pitt supports the ONE Campaign, an organization aimed at combating AIDS and poverty in the developing world.[124][125] He narrated the 2005 PBS public television series Rx for Survival: A Global Health Challenge, which discusses current global health issues[126] and traveled to Pakistan in November 2005 with Angelina Jolie to see the impact of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake.[127] The following year Pitt and Jolie flew to Haiti, where they visited a school supported by Yéle Haïti, a charity founded by Haitian-born hip hop musician Wyclef Jean.[128] In May 2007, Pitt and Jolie donated $1 million to three organizations in Chad and Sudan dedicated to those affected by the crisis in the Darfur region.[129] Along with Clooney, Damon, Don Cheadle, and Jerry Weintraub, Pitt is one of the founders of "Not On Our Watch", an organization that tries to focus global attention and resources to stop and prevent genocides such as that in Darfur.[130]

Pitt has a sustained interest in architecture[131] and has narrated Design e2, a PBS television series focused on worldwide efforts to build environmentally friendly structures through sustainable architecture and design.[132] He founded the Make It Right Foundation in 2006, organizing housing professionals in New Orleans to finance and construct 150 sustainable, affordable new houses in New Orleans's Ninth Ward following the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.[133][134] The project involves 13 architectural firms and the environmental organization Global Green USA, with several of the firms donating their services.[135][136] Pitt and philanthropist Steve Bing have each committed $5 million in donations.[137] The first six homes were completed in October 2008,[138] and in September 2009 Pitt received an award in recognition of the project from the U.S. Green Building Council, a non-profit trade organization that promotes sustainability in how buildings are designed, built and operated.[139][140] Pitt met with U.S. President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi in March 2009 to promote his concept of green housing as a national model and to discuss federal funding possibilities.[141]

In September 2006, Pitt and Jolie established a charitable organization, the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, to aid humanitarian causes around the world.[142] The foundation made initial donations of $1 million each to Global Action for Children and Doctors Without Borders,[142] followed by an October 2006 donation of $100,000 to the Daniel Pearl Foundation, an organization created in memory of the late American journalist Daniel Pearl.[143] According to federal filings, Pitt and Jolie invested $8.5 million into the foundation in 2006; it gave away $2.4 million in 2006[144] and $3.4 million in 2007.[145] In June 2009 the Jolie-Pitt Foundation donated $1 million to a U.N. refugee agency to help Pakistanis displaced by fighting between troops and Taliban militants.[146][147] In January 2010 the foundation donated $1 million to Doctors Without Borders for emergency medical assistance to help victims of the Haiti earthquake.[148][149][edit] In the media

Pitt's sex appeal has been picked up by many sources including Empire, who named him one of the 25 sexiest stars in film history in 1995.[8] The same year, Pitt won People's Sexiest Man Alive, an accolade he won again in 2000.[2][150] Pitt appeared on Forbes's annual Celebrity 100 list of the 100 most powerful celebrities in 2006, 2007, and 2008, at No. 20, No. 5, and No. 10 respectively.[151][152][153] In 2007 he was listed among the Time 100, a compilation of the 100 most influential people in the world, as selected annually by Time.[154] The magazine credited Pitt with using "his star power to get people to look [to where] cameras don't usually catch".[154] Pitt was again included in the Time 100 in 2009, this time in the Builders and Titans list.[155]A Caucasian male with dyed blonde hair is being interviewed. He is wearing a black suit and tie, with a white shirt, and is standing on a red carpet. People standing behind barricades are visible in the background, while microphones are visible in the foreground.Pitt interviewed by the news media at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in 2007

Pitt visited the University of Missouri campus in October 2004 to encourage students to vote in the 2004 U.S. presidential election,[156] in which he supported John Kerry.[156][157] Later in October he publicly supported the principle of public funding for embryonic stem-cell research. "We have to make sure that we open up these avenues so that our best and our brightest can go find these cures that they believe they will find," he said.[158] In support of this he endorsed Proposition 71, a California ballot initiative intended to provide federal government funding for stem-cell research.[159]

Starting in 2005, Pitt's relationship with Angelina Jolie became one of the most reported celebrity stories worldwide. After confirming that Jolie was pregnant in early 2006, the unprecedented media hype surrounding the coupled reached what Reuters, in a story titled "The Brangelina fever," called "the point of insanity".[4] To avoid media attention the couple flew to Namibia for the birth of their daughter Shiloh, "the most anticipated baby since Jesus Christ."[160] Similarly intense media interest greeted the announcement two years later of Jolie's second pregnancy; for the two weeks Jolie spent in a seaside hospital in Nice, reporters and photographers camped outside on the promenade to report on the birth.[161]

In September 2008 Pitt donated $100,000 to the campaign against California's 2008 ballot proposition Proposition 8, an initiative to overturn the state Supreme Court decision that had legalized same-sex marriage.[162] Pitt stated his reasons for the stance: "Because no one has the right to deny another their life, even though they disagree with it, because everyone has the right to live the life they so desire if it doesn't harm another and because discrimination has no place in America, my vote will be for equality and against Proposition 8."[163][edit] Personal life

In the late 1980s and the 1990s Pitt was involved in successive relationships with several of his co-stars, including Robin Givens (Head of the Class),[164] Jill Schoelen (Cutting Class),[164] and Juliette Lewis (Too Young to Die? and Kalifornia), who, at the age of sixteen, was ten years his junior when they started dating.[24] In addition, Pitt had a much-publicized romance and engagement to Seven co-star Gwyneth Paltrow, whom he dated from 1994 to 1997.[164]A Caucasian man and woman in the foreground of the image, while others are visible behind them. The woman has brown hair, which is tied back. The man has his dark brown hair parted. He is wearing a black suit and bow-tie with a white shirt.Angelina Jolie and Pitt at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.

Pitt met Friends actress Jennifer Aniston in 1998 and married her in a private wedding ceremony in Malibu on July 29, 2000.[1][165] For years their marriage was considered a rare Hollywood success;[1][166] however, in January 2005, Pitt and Aniston announced that they had decided formally to separate after seven years together.[165] Two months later Aniston filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.[167]

During Pitt's divorce from Aniston, his involvement with Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-star Angelina Jolie attracted vigorous media attention.[168] While Pitt denied claims of adultery, he admitted that he "fell in love" with Jolie on the set[169] and said that production on Mr. & Mrs. Smith would continue after his separation from Aniston.[170]

In April 2005, one month after Aniston filed for divorce, a set of paparazzi photographs emerged showing Pitt, Jolie and her son Maddox at a beach in Kenya; the pictures were construed in the press as evidence of a relationship between Pitt and Jolie.[171] During the summer of 2005 the two were seen together with increasing frequency, and the entertainment media dubbed the couple "Brangelina".[172] Pitt and Aniston's divorce was finalized by the Los Angeles Superior Court on October 2, 2005, legally ending their marriage.[167] On January 11, 2006, Jolie confirmed to People that she was pregnant with Pitt's child, thereby publicly confirming their relationship for the first time.[173] In an October 2006 interview with Esquire, Pitt said that he and Jolie would marry when everyone in America is legally able to marry.[174] In February 2010, Pitt and Jolie sued the British tabloid News of the World over reports that the two were splitting up.[175]

Despite media reports that Pitt and Aniston have an acrimonious relationship, in a February 2009 interview, Pitt said that he and Aniston "check in with each other", adding that they were both big parts of each others' lives.[176]

In an October 2007 interview, Pitt revealed that he is no longer a Christian and does not believe in an afterlife. "There's peace in understanding that I have only one life, here and now, and I'm responsible."[7] In a July 2009 interview he said that he did not believe in God, and that he was "probably 20 percent atheist and 80 percent agnostic."[177][edit] ChildrenBrad Pitt's children[hide]

In July 2005, Pitt accompanied Jolie to Ethiopia,[178] where she adopted her second child, a six-month-old girl named Zahara,[178] a decision which Jolie later stated she and Pitt had made together.[179] It was confirmed, in December 2005, that Pitt was seeking to legally adopt Jolie's two children, Maddox and Zahara;[180] on January 19, 2006, a California judge granted their request to change the children's surnames to "Jolie-Pitt".[181]

Jolie gave birth to a daughter, Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, in Swakopmund, Namibia, on May 27, 2006. Pitt confirmed that their newly born daughter would have a Namibian passport.[182] The couple sold the first pictures of Shiloh through the distributor Getty Images and the North American rights were purchased by People for over $4.1 million, while British magazine Hello! obtained the international rights for approximately $3.5 million. The proceeds from the sale, up to $10 million worldwide,[183] were donated to an undisclosed charity by Pitt and Jolie.[184] Madame Tussauds in New York unveiled a wax figure of two-month-old Shiloh, making Shiloh the first infant to have a statue at Madame Tussauds.[185]

On March 15, 2007, Jolie adopted a three-year-old boy from Vietnam, Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt (originally Pax Thien Jolie).[186] Since the orphanage did not allow unmarried couples to adopt, Jolie adopted Pax as a single parent, and Pitt later adopted him as his son in the United States.[187]

Following months of media speculation, Jolie confirmed in an interview at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival that she was expecting twins.[188] She gave birth at the Lenval hospital in Nice, France, on July 12, 2008. The twins were named Knox Léon and Vivienne Marcheline.[189] The rights for the first images of Knox and Vivienne were jointly sold to People and Hello! for $14 million—the most expensive celebrity pictures ever taken.[190][191] The couple donated the proceeds to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation.[190][192][edit] FilmographyActor Year↓ Film↓ Role↓ Notes1987 No Way Out Officer at party No Man's Land Waiter Less Than Zero Partygoer Growing Pains Jeff TV series (two episodes: "Who's Zoomin' Who?" and "Feet of Clay" [1989])Dallas Randy TV series (four episodes)Happy Together Brian Cutting Class Dwight Ingalls Head of the Class Chuck TV series (one episode: "Partners")Freddy's Nightmares Rick Austin TV series (one episode: "Black Tickets")1988 21 Jump Street Peter TV series (one episode: "Best Years of Your Life")1990 Image, TheThe Image Cameraman TV movieToo Young to Die? Billy Canton TV movieGlory Days Walker Lovejoy TV series (six episodes)1991 Across the Tracks Joe Maloney Thelma & Louise J.D. Johnny Suede Johnny Suede 1992 Contact Cox Cool World Detective Frank Harris River Runs Through It, AA River Runs Through It Paul Maclean 1993 Kalifornia Early Grayce True Romance Floyd 1994 Favor, TheThe Favor Elliott Fowler Interview with the Vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac MTV Movie Award for Best Performance - MaleMTV Movie Award for Most Desirable MaleNominated–MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo shared with Tom CruiseNominated–Saturn Award for Best ActorLegends of the Fall Tristan Ludlow Nominated–Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama1995 Seven David Mills MTV Movie Award for Most Desirable MaleNominated–MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo shared with Morgan FreemanNominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Performance - Male12 Monkeys Jeffrey Goines Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion PictureSaturn Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated–Academy Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance1996 Sleepers Michael Sullivan 1997 Devil's Own, TheThe Devil's Own Francis "Frankie" Austin McQuire/Rory Devaney Seven Years in Tibet Heinrich Harrer Dark Side of the Sun, TheThe Dark Side of the Sun Rick 1998 Meet Joe Black Joe Black/Man in the Coffee Shop 1999 Fight Club Tyler Durden Being John Malkovich Himself Cameo2000 Snatch Mickey O'Neil Nominated–Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture2001 Mexican, TheThe Mexican Jerry Welbach Spy Game Tom Bishop Ocean's 11Ocean's Eleven Rusty Ryan Nominated–MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen TeamNominated–Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best CastFriends Will Colbert TV series (one episode: "The One with the Rumor")Nominated–Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series2002 Full Frontal Himself Confessions of a Dangerous Mind Brad, Bachelor #1 2003 Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas Sinbad Voice actorAbby Singer Himself Cameo2004 Troy Achilles Teen Choice Award for Best Action ActorNominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Fight shared with Eric BanaNominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Performance - MaleOcean's 12Ocean's Twelve Rusty Ryan Nominated–Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast2005 Mr. & Mrs. Smith John Smith MTV Movie Award for Best Fight shared with Angelina JolieNominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss shared with Angelina Jolie2006 Babel Richard Gotham Award for Best Ensemble CastPalm Springs International Film Festival for Best CastSan Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best CastNominated–Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated–Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion PictureNominated–Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion PictureNominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture2007 Ocean's 13Ocean's Thirteen Rusty Ryan Assassination of Jesse Jamesby the Coward Robert Ford, TheThe Assassination of Jesse Jamesby the Coward Robert Ford Jesse James Venice Film Festival – Volpi Cup for Best Actor2008 Burn After Reading Chad Feldheimer Nominated–BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting RoleNominated–Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best CastNominated–Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting ActorCurious Case of Benjamin Button, TheThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button Benjamin Button Nominated–Academy Award for Best ActorNominated–BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleNominated–Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated–Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best CastNominated–Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture DramaNominated–Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated–Saturn Award for Best ActorNominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureNominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role2009 Inglourious Basterds Lt. Aldo Raine Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best CastPhoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best CastSan Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best CastScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureNominated–Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best EnsembleNominated–MTV Movie Award for Best Performance2010 Tree of Life, TheThe Tree of Life Mr. O'Brien post-productionMegamind Metro-Man post-production2011 Moneyball Billy Beane filmingProducer Year↓ Film↓ Notes2006 God Grew Tired of Us Executive producer2006 Departed, TheThe Departed Nominated–BAFTA Award for Best Film2006 Running with Scissors 2007 Tehuacan Project, TheThe Tehuacan Project Executive producer2007 Year of the Dog Executive producer2007 Mighty Heart, AA Mighty Heart Co-producerNominated–Independent Spirit Award for Best Film2007 Assassination of Jesse Jamesby the Coward Robert Ford, TheThe Assassination of Jesse Jamesby the Coward Robert Ford 2008 Pretty/Handsome Executive producer (TV)2009 Time Traveler's Wife, TheThe Time Traveler's Wife Executive producer2009 Private Lives of Pippa Lee, TheThe Private Lives of Pippa Lee Executive producer2010 Kick-Ass 2010 Eat Pray Love 2010 Tree of Life, TheThe Tree of Life [edit] References

* This page was last modified on 23 August 2010 at 18:48. * Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. * Contact us

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

E- Stores can be rather creative in terms of offering the public a variety of goods and services. The main reason for this change is convenience. The trouble of going shopping in a conventional manner too time consuming and costly.

The green movement is more in-line with saving gas and energy; this in keeping with most E Stores. The service is quick. Once you make your selection you simply press ones selection.

Your E Store can meet all of your on-line needs today. We believe we can help advance the economy in new ways. The greater our sales the more jobs we may create. Also we give 10% to the needy. Hurry Up and Buy is our name for a light sense of humor. The Joy of Jesus is our real sponsor.http://hurrybuy.blogspot.com/

Monday, August 23, 2010

Faith and Economy is a great start for faith based businesses. The Joy of Jesus offers both faith and business opportunities for all people. Our goal is to hire more people to help families today.

People need jobs. The banks and housing industry have stabilized. However, there are not enough jobs to turn things around. Faith is a real force in turning things in to right direction. The Joy of Jesus has been in constant prayer for all people to secure good jobs.

New green technology and business development are keys to this recovery The Joy of Jesus offers not only faith but resources as well. We have Centers for: Education, Green Technology, Health Services and Career Development. We also have job finder as well.

The Joy of Jesus needs your help to help others. We need one-million people to stand with us for people. Give to The Joy of Jesus today http://thejoyofjesuschurchonline.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Can love make a difference in terms of how the economy works and how people behave? Is their a need to change the manner in which love is infused into the fabric of society? The Joy all Joy is the answer.

We believe our message of love is not being properly utilized. War and poverty has run a mock. Life is so much more th hate, greed and war. The Joy of Jesus is in constant prayer for a greater love.

We need one million people to stand up for pure and perfect love. To stand up for peace. To end poverty. To stop war. We need jobs for all workers. There should never be a hungry child or person in the world. The Joy of Jesus needs this message to be shared today is not fast enough. http://thejoyofjesuschurchonline.blogspot.com/

Thursday, August 12, 2010

"99ers" is a term for the group of unemployed workers who have been out of work for over 99 weeks and thus are no longer eligible to receive federal unemployment benefits. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of June approximately 1.4 million Americans fell into the "99ers" category, which accounts for 9.2 percent of all unemployed workers. This means that in the past three years, the number of 99ers has multiplied sixfold from roughly 221,000 in June 2007."

The Joy of Jesus Church is in prayer for all jobless people. The public is only concerned for their job. What happens when they lose their job?

We need jobs now. We need people to care. The rich need to do more to help create jobs in big cities and rural areas. Things are getting worst. We need one-million people to stand with The Joy of Jesushttp://thejoyofjesuschurchonline.blogspot.com/